High temperature saturating or coating apparatus



H. A. CUMFER Aug. 16, 1938.

HIGH TEMPERATURE SATURATING OR COATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 7. 1935 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Ira/6W7?? Harry (Z CLL77ZICK Aug. 16, 1938. cu 2,126,872

HIGH TEMPERATURE SATURATING OR COATING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 7. 1935 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Moe/1T0?- Harry E. Camfarj Aug. 16, 1938.

H. A. CUMFER HIGH TEMPERATURE SATURATING OB COATING APPARATUS Filed Nov.7, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [loaf 275%- Ear/y CZ 640727??? PatentedAug.'16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HIGH TEMPERATURE SATURATING ORCOATINGAPPARATUS Harry A. Cumfer, Glen Ellyn, 111. Application NovemberI, 1935, Serial No. 48,665

18 Claims.

coating unit capableof handling asphalt or othersuch materials at thehigh temperature necessary. It has long been the practice to manufactureroofing by running felt through a saturating vat, between squeeze rolls,through a coating vat, between additional squeeze rolls and then under asprinkling trough where it is surfaced with a granular material such ascrushed slate, after which it is cooled and cut to the desired sizes.The saturating and coating units used heretofore have been quiteexpensive, partly because of the large number of loops extending downinto the saturating bath through which the felt had to run to besufficiently saturated, and partly because of the necessity for heatingthe squeeze rollsat a temperature much higher than that of low pressuresteam, thus requiring expensive high pressure or superheating steamboiler equipment.

According to the present invention; the cost of this unit is verygreatly decreased in two ways. The first is by reducing the number ofloops in the saturating vat by providing long upward loops which makeunnecessary some of the loops formerly extending downwardly into thesaturating vat. The second reduction in cost is obtained by dispensingwith the expensive steam boiler equipment and instead using the moltenasphalt for heating the various squeeze rolls. This asphalt which issupplied to the saturating vat by a melting tank, may be pumpedsuccessively throughthe squeeze rolls and back either into the vat orinto the melting tank to be re-heated. The asphalt in the saturatingtank is usually kept at a temperature of from 400 to 450 F., and that inthe coating tank is usually kept at a-temperature of about 300 F. Thusif the asphalt is drawn from the saturating vat, its temperature isadequate for heating the squeeze rolls. The expense, the inconvenience,and the danger of steam systems are all eliminated. Furthermore,although of course more fuel will have to be used for heating theasphalt than if it were not circulated, yet afuel economy will result,since it is more efficient to heat the asphalt a little more than toheat an entirely separate steam boiler system,

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, taken with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially diagrammatic side elevation of the saturating andcoating unit chosen for illustration of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a partially diagrammatic vertical transverse section throughthe saturating unit, including the melting tank therefor, and showingthis invention applied thereto.

Fig. 3 is a view of the saturating unit corresponding with Fig. 1, butshowing the gate rolls in position for threading the felt therethrough.

Fig. 4 is a perspective diagrammatic view.illustrating particularly thepreferred circulation of the hot asphalt through the squeeze rolls.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the coating tank of a modification ofthe invention, in which the asphalt in the coating tank is kept hot bythe circulating asphalt from the saturating tank. Although thisinvention may take numerous forms, only one form, together with a slightmodification thereof, has been chosen for illustration. For the purposeof explaining the invention, it may be assumed that it is being used formanufacturing roofing, although of course it could be used for makingwax paper or other materials. The treatment of the felt II is the same'with or without the modification. From a suitable source of supply suchas the roll l2, it passes over a roller l3, under and around a gateroller M in the saturating vat l5, over and around a gate. roller l6,and around any desired number of successive pairs of rollers l4 and I6,and through squeeze rollers 2| and 22 which are geared together andsuitably driven to draw the felt through the saturator. The "positioningof these rolls may be regulated by a handle'23 in any desired manner. v

From the squeeze rolls 2| and 22 the felt passes over the idler roll 26,down into the coating vat 21, and around the idler gate roll 28 andbetween squeeze rolls 29 and 30. From there the felt passes through thesurfacing, cooling and cutting apparatus which, being conventional, hasnot been shown. As the felt is drawn up out of the asphalt from thefirst roll It, one or both of its surfaces are preferably scraped withadjustable doctor blades 33 to remove the asphalt therefrom so as tofacilitate the escape of steam if the felt supplied to the machine isnot'sufiiciently dry to make this unnecessary.

The gate rolls I4 and i6 are suitably supported on gates 38 which are.supported for vertical movement and include rack portions 37. The

rack portions 31 of each pair of gates preferably engage a pinion 38which operates the two gates simultaneously, raising the roll l6 andlowering the roll l4, or vice versa. When the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 3, the felt may be threaded straight between the rollersI4 and I6 to the feed rolls. The handles 39 are then turned to lower therolls i4 and raise the rolls l6 to the position shown in Fig. 1, unlessfor special reasons it is preferred that the roller M be positioned onlypart way down in the tank. Any suitable means may be provided forlocking the handle 39 or the pinion 38 to secure the gates and therollers thereon in any desired position.

In like manner the felt may be threaded through the coating unit in. thesame way by raising the gate roll 28 to a position where it will beconvenient to thread the felt under it.

The saturating vat is supplied with hot asphalt from a melting andheating tank 41 which is heated by a suitable furnace 42 which maydesirably include an oil burner 43. When the asphalt has been heated tothe desired temperature, say 400 or 450 F., the valve 44 may be raised,

' permitting the asphalt to flow through the pipe 46 into the saturatingvat l5 where it is kept at the desired temperature by a furnace 41 whichmay include an oil burner 48. Heretofore the depth of the asphalt in thevat l5 has been regulated by manual control of the valve 44, butaccording to the present invention it is controlled automatically by afloat 5| which operates the valve 44 in any manner desired, as by thelever and linkage system illustrated, in which the pivots 52 and 53 arefixed pivots, being secured to any suitable supports, and the pivots 54are merely pivotal connections between the moving parts of the system.The burner may be regulated automatically or by hand to maintain theasphalt at the desired temperature.

A similar melting tank 56 may be provided for the coating vat 21, beingheated by a furnace as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the same valve controlbeing preferred. Thevat 2'! may be heated by a furnace including an oilburner 48 or by special means described hereinafter.

According to the present invention the various squeeze rolls 2I22 and29-30, and any other elements which require heating, and for whichburners are not provided, may be heated by circulation of hot asphalt.As seen best in Fig. 2, a pump 6| is provided for circulating theasphalt, being driven by any suitable motor 62. The pump is preferably agear pump immersed in the saturating tank l5. In any event, it draws theasphalt from said tank and pumps it through a pipe 63 to whateverelements require heating.

In Fig. 2 the pipe 63 is connected to the lower squeeze roll 2i througha suitable stuffing box 64, such stufiing box being provided for allconnections between pipes and rolls. From the roll 2| the asphalt flowsthrough pipe 66 to roll 22, and from that it fiows through the pipe 61to such other elements as are to be heated, and through the pipe 68 tothe melting tank 4|, the dotted lines between the pipe 61 and the piping68 indicating that there may be additional elements connected'betweenthe two. As a matter of fact, in the preferred form of the inventionthere would be additional elements connected between the two, since, asshown in Fig. 4, the pipe 61 is connected to the lower squeeze roll 29at the coating tank, which is connected to the upper squeeze roll 30,which in turn is connected "to the pipe 68.

As shown in Fig. 5, the asphalt in the coating vat 21 may be heated byasphalt pumped from the saturating vat l5 through the pipe 61 or aseparate pipe, to the heating coils H, and from the heating coils II tothe rollers 29 and 30 or directly to the melting tank 4|. Of course, ifthe coating vat 21 is heated in this manner the burner 48' shown belowthis vat in Fig. 1 may be omitted. However, when the burner 48' isprovided as shown in Fig. 1, the hot asphalt from the vat 21- may beused for heating certain elements. For example, it may be preferred insome instances to heat the squeeze rolls 2| and 22 with the contents ofthe vat I5, and to heat the squeeze rolls 29 and 30 with the contents ofthe vat 21 pumped to said squeeze rolls by a pump similar to the pump6|, but located in the vat 21.

It is not necessary that the asphalt be pumped from the vats to themelting tanks, as it could be pumped back into the vats, or from thesaturating vat to the coating vat or its melting tank. Likewise theasphalt flowing from the melting tank to its associated vat could passthrough the rolls. The illustrated arrangement is preferred because itpermits accurate control of temperature in the vat, and the pump may beused to empty the vat whenever desired. Furthermore, it will permitdispensing with the burner under the saturating vat in some instances.It would even be possible to get along on a single main burner,especially if small control burners were provided.

It is of course desirable to be able to drain all of the asphalt fromthe various pipes or at least enough so that after a shut-down duringwhich any remaining asphalt is solidified there will be a passageentirely through the pipes so that hot asphalt may be circulatedtherethrough and melt any remaining solidified asphalt. To this end thecirculation is preferably from the lower roll to the upper roll of eachpair of rolls, and the lower roll 29 of the coating tank is preferablyan inch or so higher than the upper roll 22 of the saturating tank.Likewise all of the piping 68 is preferably inclined so as to drainnaturally.

The squeeze rolls have been illustrated as of the so-called solid type,with a relatively small bore therethrough so that substantially all ofthe asphalt would drain therefrom. As a matter of fact, they might be ofthe hollow shell type, since in any event they would drain to the levelof the inlet and outlet, so that hot asphalt could be pumped throughthem, melting whatever cold asphalt was retained in the roll. If thecoils shown in Fig. 5 are used, a capped or plugged draining outlet 13should be provided, and of course in any event air inlets may beprovided wherever necessary to permit drainage of the pipes. Drainageoutlets may also be provided for the two vats, although this is notnecessary. The vats may be nearly emptied by pumping the contentsthereof into the respective melting tanks and whatever asphalt is leftin these vats during the shut-down may be kept warm if the shutdown isfor a short time, or may be re-melted if the shut-down is for a longertime.

The foregoing apparatus saves the cost of a separate steam generatingand superheating system for heating the various squeeze rolls, and

furthermore saves a large part of the cost of opcrating the same. Theprovision in the saturating unit of successive rolls, one immersed inthe vat and the other high above the vat over which the felt runs, givesthe asphalt plenty of time to soak into the felt, with a relativelysmall number as it first comes out of the saturating vat, avoids thenecessity for pre-drying' the felt, although of course it is stilldesirable to have it fairly dry.

Although but one embodiment of my invention is herein shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that I am not limited thereby, butlimit my invention only by the scope of the appended claims. Theparticular elements heated by the circulating asphalt are illustrative,as other elements such as preheating or reheating rolls or coils locatedanywhere adjacent the path, if such other elements should be desirable,or any other elements requiring heating, could be heated by thecirculating asphalt.

I claim:

1. High temperature saturating apparatus including a saturating vat forholding the saturant, means for passing the material to be saturatedtherethrough including a roll engaging said material after it passesthrough said saturant, means for heating said saturant, and means forpassing some of said heated saturant through said roll.

-2. High temperature saturating apparatus including container means forholding the saturant including a saturating vat, means for heating thesaturant in said container means, means for passing the material to besaturated through said vat including a roll engaging said material afterit passes through said vat, and means for passing said heated saturantfrom said vat through said roll and back into said container means.

3. High temperature saturating apparatus including a saturating vat forholding the saturant, means for passing the material to be saturatedtherethrough, means for heating said saturant and means for circulatingsome of said heated saturant through a member along the path of saidmaterial after it leaves said vat to use its heat in the treatmentthereof.

4. High temperature saturating apparatus including a saturating vat forholding the saturant, means for passing the material to be saturatedtherethrough, means for heating said saturant and means for circulatingsome of said heated saturant through a member along the path of saidmaterial to use its heat in the treatment thereof.

5. High temperature saturating apparatus including a saturating vat forholding the saturant,

a heating tank for supplying heated saturant to said vat, means forpassing the material to be saturated through said vat including a rollenaging said material after it passes through said saturant, means forheating said saturant in said vat, and means for passing said heatedsaturant from said vat through said roll and into said heating tank.

6. Apparatus for manufacturing roofing including a saturating vat, amelting tank for supplying hot asphalt thereto, a coating vat, sqeezerolls at said saturating vat and at said coating vat, and means forcirculating hot asphalt from said saturating vat through the squeezerolls at said saturating vat, and thereafter through the squeeze rollsat said coating vat and into said melting tank to be reheated for saidsaturating vat.

'7. Apparatus for manufacturing roofing including a saturating vat,means for heating saturant for said vat, a coating vat, squeeze rolls atsaid saturating vat and at said coating vat, and means for circulatinghot saturant from said saturating vat through the squeeze rolls at saidsaturating vat and thereafter through the squeeze rolls at said coatingvat.

8. Apparatus for manufacturing roofing including a saturating vat, meansfor heating saturant for said vat, a coating vat, squeeze rolls at saidsaturating vat and at said coating vat, and means for circulating hotsaturant from said saturating vat through the squeeze rolls at saidsaturating vat and thereafter through the squeeze rolls at said coatingvat, said means also causing said saturant to flow throughheating pipesin heat exchange relation with said coating vat for heating the saturanttherein.

9. Apparatus for manufacturing roofing including a saturating vat, meansfor heating saturant for said vat, a coating vat, squeeze rolls at saidsaturating vat and at said coating vat, and means for circulating hotsaturant from said saturating vat through heating pipes in heat exchangerelation with said coating vat for heating the saturant therein.

10. High temperature saturating apparatus including a saturating tankfor holding the saturant, a heating tank for supplying heated saturantto said saturating tank, means for passing the material to be saturatedthrough said saturating tank including a roll engaging said materialafter it passes through said saturant, and means for causing hotsaturant to flow from one of said tanks through said roll to the other.of said tanks.

11. saturating apparatus for roofing, including a vat for holding moltenasphalt, a lower roll submerged in said vat, and an upper roll locatedhigh above said vat, means for causing roofing material to passsuccessively around said submerged roll and around said upper roll andinto said vat again, said upper roll supporting an upwardly extendingloop of material for giving the asphalt time to better saturate saidfelt for a given total length of time it is submerged in the saturant,said rolls being mounted on gates having racks thereon, and a pinionengaging said racks, and means to rotate said pinion to simultaneouslymove the upper roll down and the lower roll up until they have passedone another.

12. saturating apparatus for roofing, including vat means for holdingmolten asphalt, means maintaining the asphalt at a temperature suitablefor saturation, a lower roll submerged in said vat means, an upper rolllocated high above said vat means, means for causing roofing material topass successively around said submerged roll and around said upper rolland into said vat means again, said upper roll supporting an upwardlyextending loop of material for giving the asphalt time to bettersaturate said material for a given total length of time it is submergedin the saturant, and scraping means positioned closely above thesaturant, contacting one side ofw said material and removingsubstantially all of the asphalt from a surface of the material whileleaving a surplus of asphalt therein as it first leaves'the asphalt inthe vat means, to release any steam in said material whereby thematerial may be more completely saturated on its return to said vatmeans.

13. High temperature saturating apparatus including a vat for holding aviscous material, means for passing a strip material therethrough,

means for heating said viscous material and I means for circulating someof said heated viscous means for circulating some of said heated viscousmaterial through a member along the path of said strip material to useits heat in the treatment thereof.

16. Apparatus for manufacturing roofing including a saturating vat,means for heating saturant for said vat, a coating vat, and means forcirculating hot saturant from said saturating vat through heating pipesin heat exchange relation with said coating vat for heating the saturant10 therein.

HARRY A. CUMFER.

